- Even though his brain is totally active as he writes, his body is passive: Vladimir finds himself pretty much sitting, standing, or lying down.
- He learns that writing poetry puts him into a sort of trance, and it's now possible for him to walk from one place to another without even noticing for quite some time.
- At times, the only thing that could break the trance was sounds, like a dinner bell, music from another room.
- Another such sound is the music of an organ grinder with a poor, balding monkey, which Vladimir visualizes when he hears the organ.
- Later in life, around the time Nabokov is writing this chapter, he is walking when he comes upon a father and son watching a cat torture a chipmunk. It reminds him of the poor, balding monkey.
- As Vladimir writes his poetry, he can hear music from his family's record player and when it ends, his first poem is at last finished.